Author Archives: peter

Honey Lantree has died.

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The Honeycombs were an English beat band from the early 60s, with jangly guitars and catchy tunes, good looking guys in suits and, surprisingly, a female drummer, Honey Lantree, who died in 2018 just before Christmas.

According to the NY Times obituary, Anne Lantree showed up for her guitar lesson, sat down at the drum kit in the studio and was such a natural that she was soon asked to join the Sheratons, an amateur band that then changed it’s name to the Honeycombs after Lantree changed her first name to Honey.

The Honeycombs were gifted with the perfect and enduring Have I The Right? by its songwriters, Alan Blaikley and Ken Howard. Have I the Right? is a pounding love song that I would say is not so much beloved by daylight, but is shouted along with, feet stomping, in any bar or pub that nears closing time. Which makes it near perfect, some of the time.

Have I the Right? topped out at No. 5 in the US and No. 1 in the UK. 

The Honeycombs had one other hit, That’s the Way, on which Honey shared vocals with regular singer Dennis D’ell.

Ellen Foley, Torchlight

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I love this elpee.

Ellen Foley, Meatloaf backup singer, Night Court cutie, falls into bed with the Clash’s Mick Jones around Sandanista time, which is also Armagideon Time, if I’m right.

And makes a record that is individual, catchy, and well worth a listen for reasons beyond the historical ones.

For one, she can sing. 

For two, Strummer Jones write tunes.

And this band can play. Maybe not what you’d expect, but what you should give a listen. The Wikipedia page is like two sentences long, no one gives a crap, but I like this album warts and all. The best cuts are great, the weak ones are interesting. 

And it was made by the greatest band of all time, maybe, in mufti. Don’t believe the lack of hype.


Lawr Michaels, Have Fun Til the End

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I became friends with Lawr, like most, because of our mutual loves of baseball (real and fantasy) and rock ‘n’ roll, but much of our chatter when we would get together was about literature and storytelling, or food and cooking, or politics and wishing.

For most of the history of the Fantasy Baseball Guide Lawr put together the Mock Draft, assembling All-Star casts from his wide circle of friends and experts. Back in the early days his wife, Cathy, worked as proofreader and copyeditor on the Guide. She passed away not long after from cancer, and as one got to know Lawr one learned that his grand passion and enthusiasm for doing things came from a shadow of tragedy that trailed after him his whole life.

In 2011 he released a full album of original songs called Downward Facing Dog. I reviewed it on Amazon, where you can now find a copy for $32 cheap, to support my friend but also because I think it’s a terrific piece of work. 

Lawr was diagnosed a few months ago with some potentially serious problems and set himself on an even better diet than the good diet he already followed, and he tried to strengthen up by taking care. He said he would work on the Guide this year, but then stepped back. He passed on our Tout Wars meetings, and said he had Rock Remnants pieces to write but had to get better first. When I heard he’d taken a turn for the worse a few days ago I thought of his love for the Kinks and Richard Thompson, but when I’d heard the bad news this morning I thought of this Lawr original song.

Well, I thought of the studio version, which is neater, but this rougher version has video of Lawr himself, which is just a moment of comfort at this sad time.

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Pete Shelley is Dead.

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One of the best records I ever bought was Singles Going Steady, the Buzzcock’s compilation of their 45s. On the other hand, I realized today that I played that one over and over and didn’t hear them all. Which is too bad.

This one is up third on the original SGS vinyl. I don’t mind. Great songs, great band.

https://youtu.be/MPcnXBj8Msw